The beverage industry has over the past ten or fifteen years increased drastically its use of thin-walled aluminum cans, particularly for soft drinks and beer. The use of such cans has prompted a hue and cry from environmentalists who have objected to the disposal of empty cans in the trash. As a consequence many states and provinces encourage the recycling of aluminum cans and promote such recycling by instituting a deposit/refund program under which the purchaser pays a deposit of, say, five cents per can at the time of purchase and is entitled to a refund of the same amount when he returns the empty can. This program can create many headaches and problems at the locations where the cans are returned since, very often, they are returned by the bag-full and they must be counted and possibly sorted, a time consuming and thankless job.
There have been many inventions relating to carriers for cans; however such inventions have all been directed to the packaging or carrying of full cans. No one has directed their energies to the problems associated with returnable "empties", especially in the beer or soft drink field.